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The Etiquetteist: When (and where) should you let a group play through?

The progression of golfers around a course is similar to traffic on city streets, replete with slowpokes, speedsters, bottlenecks and breakdowns.

The difference is that traffic on a course is mostly self-policed.

In the absence of strict laws and rigid enforcement, we’re left to follow the unwritten rules of etiquette, which brings us to this week’s comportment dilemma: When should you let another group play through?

The first commandment is as simple as a tap-in: If you’re holding up traffic, let the folks behind you pass, just as you should if you’re puttering along the freeway at 40 miles per hour.

Faster travelers always deserve the right of way. Unless, of course, they’ve got nowhere to go. On jam-packed tracks, there’s no point playing leap frog. Doing so helps no one. It can even make things worse.

But let’s assume congestion isn’t an issue (and if there’s a hole open ahead of you, it’s not), and your group is on the green, with golfers standing, arms-crossed, in the fairway behind you — the golf equivalent of flashing the high beams. If this happens once, it might be an aberration. If it happens a second time, guess what? You’re the problem. Proper etiquette requires you to step aside.

There’s a good chance this will happen on a par-3, where slowdowns are most common. The process here is easy, says Lou Riccio, author of Golf’s Pace of Play Bible: “Wave them up while you are near the green, let them putt while you are planning your putts, then let them go to the next tee first.”

If they catch you on the tee box of a par-4 or par-5, Riccio says, “Let them tee off right after you have hit, then let them move down the hole with you but at some point let them go ahead.”

Riccio’s emphasis is pace of play. But pace and etiquette are interrelated. Most golfers understand this. Sadly, a myopic few do not. They refuse to let folks through, or they piss and moan about it. Why is sometimes hard to say, though it often boils down to ego or entitlement, or, most likely, a little bit of both. It’s never too early in a round to do the right thing (if your foursome’s on the 1st tee, and a single ambles up, let the single go). But is it ever too late? The 16th tee is a reasonable cutoff, unless the group behind you is shattering a land-speed record. Though the rules of etiquette do not require it, you’re wise to let them through whenever they catch you, even as late as the 18th tee.

That’s a rare occurrence. But golf’s a funny game; odd things happen. Good thing is, when it comes to waving through, two fundamental rules should cover all scenarios: apply common courtesy and common sense.

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Justin Thomas led heading into the final day of the Genesis Open, but J.B. Holmes, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and others were lurking in what was a long and cold day at Riviera Country Club. Here’s what you missed.

Who won: J.B. Holmes (one-under 70, 14 under overall)

How it happened: Lots of golf was played on Sunday. Thursday’s rain delay pushed the entire tournament back and players returned to the course early on Sunday to finish their third rounds before teeing off for their final round. Thomas was two holes into his third round and led by one when play was called on Saturday, and when the third round was complete he was at 17 under and leading by four. But a lot changed Sunday afternoon. Thomas bogeyed three of the first five and Holmes took his first solo lead with a birdie on 10 when Thomas made bogey. Thomas birdied 11 to Holmes’s bogey to retake a one-shot lead, but Thomas needed seven putts on the 13th and 14th and made double bogey and bogey to fall two behind Holmes. Thomas birdied 16 to cut the lead to one, but couldn’t make a final birdie to catch Holmes. Thomas signed for a 75.

Key hole: Holmes and Thomas alternated two-shot swings on the 10th and 11th holes, but Thomas four-putted for double bogey on the 13th. That costly error gave Holmes a lead he never lost.

Why it matters: It’s the 36-year-old Holmes’s fifth win of his PGA Tour career and first since the 2015 Shell Houston Open. Holmes’s first two victories came in 2006 and 2008, and he later overcame brain surgery in 2011 before rejoining the PGA Tour in early 2012. The 2014 Wells Fargo Championship was his first victory after returning from surgery.

Best shot when it mattered: Holmes, leading by two with three to play, hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th into the bunker, but he made a key par save from 11 feet. Thomas followed by knocking in his short birdie putt, but Holmes’s clutch par kept him out in front and prevented the two-shot swing.

Notables: Woods closed with a 72 and finished T15, McIlroy shot 69 to finish T4 and Jordan Spieth made quad on the par-4 10th and shot a 10-over 81, his highest score in relation to par in his pro career.

Best secondary storyline: J.B. Holmes’s sluggish pace was noticed by the broadcast team — and social media.

Up next: Phil Mickelson defends his title south of the border as we gear up for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. Woods is also in the field.

https://dragonflygolfclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/golf-news-min.png6281200Teesnap Developerhttps://dragonflygolfclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Fresno-Golf.pngTeesnap Developer2019-02-19 05:54:472019-04-26 15:28:00The 30-second guide to the Genesis Open: Who won, best shot, best storyline and more

f you’re topping your fairway woods or can’t hit them above the tree line, chances are you’re not staying in your address posture when you swing the club. If it makes you feel a little better, it’s a common fault—one that I’m going to help you correct.

Before I give you a simple swing thought to get those shots soaring, let’s talk a little about why you might be struggling to hit a 3-wood off the deck. For most amateurs, it starts with the wrong mind-set.

This is a stressful situation, because it’s not a shot you practice a lot or face more than a handful of times each round. You’re not used to pulling it off, and that lack of positive experience can produce anxiety that results in a bad swing. Another reason you struggle with these shots? You’re trying too hard to rip one high and far down the fairway. Getting home in two on a par 5, or reaching the green on a long par 4, comes from making solid, center-face contact with the ball­—not from swinging full out or trying to add loft to the shot with some body English. So swing your fairway woods without tension, and that includes pace. Don’t rush down from the top of the backswing, and don’t straighten up in the through-swing thinking this will get the ball up. On the contrary, it usually leads to that worm-burner you’re used to hitting.

Posture is the primary culprit for line drives and topped shots. If you think of the club moving along an arc determined by your posture at address, the moment you straighten up, you change the arc. Good luck hitting it in the center of the face when you do that. Things happen too fast to make the necessary adjustments.

So if you’re in need of one swing thought to help flush your next fairway wood, think maintain my address posture through impact. Feel like the ball simply gets in the way of your swing. You’re not hitting at the ball, you’re swinging through the ball.

This thought will improve your mechanics, and clear some of the clutter out of your mind that led to that nervous, clunky, rigid swing. You’ll hit the shot like you’re swinging a wedge.

Rick Smith, a Golf Digest Teaching Professional, recently opened a new academy, the Rick Smith Golf Performance Center at Trump National Doral in Miami.

Wow, we have a hard time shooting 58 in our scrambles! This was an incredible show fo talent and ability. It was amazing that he didn’t get in his own way mentally.

CROMWELL, Conn. — Jim Furyk has a place in PGA Tour history all to himself.

Three years after Furyk became the sixth player on tour with a 59, he took it even lower Sunday in the Travelers Championship with a 58.

Furyk bounced in an eagle from 135 yards on the third hole, ran off seven straight birdies around the turn and picked up his final birdie on the 16th hole with a 24-foot putt. He rolled in a short par putt on the final hole at TPC River Highlands, thrust his arms into the air and waved his cap to salute thousands of fans who had rushed to the amphitheater around the green.

Furyk said it felt “phenomenal” to break the record. “There’s a lot of rounds by a lot of great players ahead of me that have never reached 58,” he said, adding, “To have a little, small place in history is something you dream of.”

Furyk is the first player to shoot 58 on the PGA Tour, but Ryo Ishikawa, Shigeki Maruyama and Stephan Jaeger have reached the score in other circumstances. Furyk previously shot a 59 at Conway Farms in the second round of the 2013 BMW Championship with a bogey on his card.

Less than a dozen fans were watching Sunday when Furyk teed off at 8:41 a.m. He started the round 16 shots out of the lead, made his last putt before Golf Channel coverage began and finished three shots behind the winner, Russell Knox.

Furyk reached 11 under on the par-70 course with his seventh straight birdie at No. 12. He missed a 12-foot birdie attempt on the 14th hole, and after he nearly drove the par-4 15th, his 8-foot birdie putt lipped out.

The most pressure Furyk felt was after his final birdie, on No. 16. He still had two par 4s to navigate.

He acknowledged guiding the ball with his drive on No. 17, where he had hit the water earlier in the week. His approach was 40 feet beyond the flag, but he two-putted for par.

His drive on No. 18 hit the right side of the fairway, and his approach left him 29 feet to the right and below the hole. The attempt for birdie felt good, he said, but it slid by on the right about 2 feet past the hole. That is when Furyk knew he had the record.

“No one else can say they’ve done that out here on the PGA Tour,” he said. “It’s really special.”